Camper trailer

ABSTRACT

A camper trailer which is collapsible and entirely made of rigid panels. The camper trailer comprises an open top box-like body, a main roof, means to raise the main roof, longitudinal wall panels hinged to the longitudinal sides of said body and, when erected, closing the space between the main roof and the said longitudinal body sides. Extensible parts, entirely made of rigid panels hinged one to the other, can be moved out to protrude from the body and main roof. Each extensible part comprises a horizontal platform mounted on slides, a roof made of panels hinged to the outer end of the platform and to the underside of the main roof and movable in slides under said main roof and of longitudinal panels hinged to the sides of the platform and capable of taking an upright position engaging the roof of the extensible part. The main roof is raised by a system of bars actuated by a winch and cable arrangement.

United States Patent July 18, 1972 Charron CAMPER TRAILER [72] Inventor:Jean Chlrron, 137 Morel St., Repentigny,

Quebec, Canada [22] Filed: Feb. 22, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: "7,282

[52] U.S. Cl ..296/27, 52/66 [51] Int. 3/32 [58] Field oi Search..296/23.2, 27, 23 R; 52/66 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS3,488,085 1/1970 Wallace ..296/27 3,377,098 4/1968 Bontrager ..296/27Primary Examiner-Philip Goodman Att0meyPierre besperance ABSTRACT Acamper trailer which is collapsible and entirely made of rigid panels.The camper trailer comprises an open top boxlike body, a main roof,means to raise the main roof, longitudinal wall panels hinged to thelongitudinal sides of said body and, when erected, closing the spacebetween the main roof and the said longitudinal body sides. Extensibleparts, entirely made of rigid panels hinged one to the other, can bemoved out to protrude from the body and main roof, Each extensible partcomprises a horizontal platform mounted on slides, a roof made of panelshinged to the outer end of the platform and to the underside of the mainroof and movable in slides under said main roof and of longitudinalpanels hinged to the sides of the platform and capable of taking anupright position engaging the roof of the extensible part. The main roofis raised by a system of bars actuated by a winch and cable arrangement.

1 l Chins, 9 Drawing figures Patented July 18, 1972 3,677,600

4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Jean CHA RRON BY QWW AGENT Patented July 18,1972 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGS Patented July 18, 1972' 3,677,600

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 H 1 a 1638 9 g 31 7 il I" h i: w 29 12 INVENTOR JeanCHARRON FIG. 7 BY AGENT Patented July 18, 1972 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Jim

Jean CHA RRON AGENT CAMPER TRAILER The present invention relates to acamper trailer and, more particularly, to such a collapsible campertrailer which is collapsible but is entirely made of rigid panels. Thecamper trailer, when in collapsed condition, occupies a minimum of roomand can be conveniently towed on roadways by a motor vehicle while, whenin erected position, provides a large volume for occupancy.

It is known to provide rigid non-collapsible camping trailers. Suchcamping trailers, because of their greater size than that of the towingvehicle, reduce rear visibility, are not very stable and their greatwind resistance results in high fuel consumption of the towing vehicle.

Another type of camping trailer is collapsible with a rigid roof butwith flexible walls made of a water-proof fabric. This fabric wears veryquickly, tears off and often leaks and is not a very good heat and soundinsulator.

I have found that the advantages of the above-noted camping trailer canbe preserved while overcoming the above-noted disadvantages by providinga new type of camping trailer. In accordance with the invention, thecamping trailer is collapsible but yet completely made of rigid panelswhich can be folded and retracted to take a collapsed condition andunfolded and erected to take a raised and extended position foroccupancy. In the erected position, the camping trailer providedadditional space in one or two extendible parts to be used as bed-roomsor for other uses. This additional space is completely enclosed byhinged panels providing roof and wall portions.

The foregoing will become clearer in the annexed description and byreferring to the drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of the camper trailer in erected positionready for occupancy;

FIG. 2 is a rear end elevation of the camper trailer in erected andextended position;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, partially cut away, of the camper trailerwith the main roof in raised position, the extendible left-hand bodypart in partially retracted position and the extendible right-hand bodypart in completely retracted position;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, partially cut away, similar to that of FIG.3 but showing the main roof half-raised with the extendible parts infully retracted position;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation, partially cut away, as in FIGS. 3 and 4, incompletely collapsed condition ready for towing;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the end extendible parts;

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of the camper trailer but in whichfigure the main roof, one of the extendible body parts and one end ofthe open top box-like body or casing are not shown;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the roof panel of one of the extendiblebody parts and of a guide rail associated therewith for enablingmovement of said panel along the main roof; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view of part of the frame and of the mechanism forraising the main roof.

In the drawings, like reference characters indicate like elementsthroughout.

The camper trailer comprises an open top, box-like body 30, of generallyrectangular shape, resting on and secured to a chassis or frame 21 andforming a floor 33, longitudinal walls 17 and end walls 32. Chassis 21is mounted on a pair of ground-engaging wheels 34 and has a hitch at itsfront end.

A rigid rectangular shape main roof 3 is attached to the upper ends oftelescopic posts 2 and inclined roof raising rigid bars 1. There is aset of telescopic posts 2 and raising bars I for each of the four comersof the main roof 3. The lower ends of the bars I are longitudinallymovably guided in guides 8 which form part of chassis 21. The lower endsof the bars 1 are provided with a wheel or roller 7 movable in the guide8. As shown in FIG. 9, a winch and cable system, mounted on chassis 21,serves to move the lower ends of bars 1 towards the respective outerends of the camper trailer. This system ineludes cables 22, attached attheir outer ends to the bars I, trained on guiding pulleys 24 and woundon drums 25, secured to a transverse shaft 27 rotatable by a manualcrank 26 on the outside of the camper trailer through the intermediaryof a transmission 23. Outward movement of the lower bars thus causesraising of the main rigid roof 3 to the fully raised position, as shownin FIG. 3; slackening of cables 22 causes lowering of the main roof,because bars 1 are still inclined in the fully raised position of mainroof 3.

Posts 2 stabilize the roof 3 in erected position and also serve to guidethe same in its raising and lowering movement. Main roof 3 has a skirt36 around its entire perimeter, which overlaps the top edge of body 30in the lowered closed position of roof 3.

Longitudinal wall panels 5 are pivoted to the top edge portions of thelongitudinal wall l7 by means of hinges 6 having their horizontal pivotlower than the top edge of said longitudinal walls 17, so that the wallpanels 5 may be filded inwardly of body 30 in horizontal position, asshown in FIG. 7, such as to be below the level of the top edge of wall17. Wall panels 5 may be provided with any number of windows and alsowith the top hinged part of the door for the trailer.

The camper trailer has body parts 3| which are erectable and extendible.Each extendible body part 3| comprises a horizontal platform 12, a roofpanel 4 hinged at 37 to an upright end flange 15, secured to the outerend of platform 12. An additional roof panel 9 is hinged at 38 to roofpanel 4. Platform 12 is horizontally slidable between retracted positionwithin body 30 over the folded longitudinal wall panels 5 being slidablysupported by slide supports 18 secured to the inside of longitudinalwalls 17. The platform 12 can be ex tended to protrude from the ends ofbox 30 until stop board 13, secured transversely to the underside of theinner end of the platform 12, abuts against the top edge of end bodywall 32.

The top free end of roof panel 9 is provided with a trolley wheelsuspension 16 for longitudinal movement with respect to main roof 3.Each wheel suspension 16 comprises an angled bracket 19 (see FIG. 8)rigidly secured to the roof panel 9, to which is adjustably and rigidlysecured a plate 20 by means of bolts and nuts, not shown, the boltspassing through elongated slots in plate 20 and in bracket 19. The plate20 has a side arm carrying a trolley wheel 11 retained in rollingengagement within a channel-shaped guide rail 10 rigidly secured to theunderside of main roof 3 and extending longitudinally thereof. The pivotaxes of hinges 37 and 38 and of trolley wheels II are generally parallelto one another.

Generally, triangular side panels 14 are hinged at 39 to thelongitudinal edges of platform 12 for movement between a foldedposition, as shown on the right-hand side of FIG. 6, on top of theplatform and in erected vertical position engaging under the roof panels4 and 9 and conforming to the same and abutting against depending sideflanges of said roof panels 4 and 9, as shown on the left-hand side ofFIG. 6. The side wall panels 14 are provided with angle irons 29 adaptedto engage the outside of the longitudinal wall panels 5 in the erectedposition of the latter to make a good seal. Similarly, the top edge ofroof panel 9 has an upwardly extending flange 33' engageable with theend flange of main roof 3 to make a seal therewith.

Outer end flanges 15 is higher than the thickness of side panels 14, sothat when the latter are in folded position over platform [2, the roofpanels 4 and 9 may overlie said side panels 14 in horizontal position.

Removable inclined braces 28 (see FIG. I) serve to support the extendedplatform 12.

In the fully collapsed position, shown in FIG. 5, the skirt of main roof3 engages and overlies the top edges of body 30 to completely close thelatter. The platfonns 12 are completely retracted within the box; thepanels 14 are folded over the platforms 12 and the roof panels 4 and 9are resting on side panels 14, while roof panel 9 is still connected tothe underside of main roof 3 by means of trolley wheels II and guiderails 10. The longitudinal wall panels 5 are folded in horizontalposition underneath the retracted platforms.

To erect the trailer, the main roof 3 is first raised by turning crank26, whereby the cables 22 pull the wheels 7 and the lower ends ofraising bars 1 towards the ends of the trailer camper. This raisingmovement can be derived from FIGS. 5, 4, and 3. During the roof raisingmovement, the roof panels 9 of the extendible body parts 31 are alsoraised, as shown on the right-hand side of FIG. 3. The platforms 12 arethen pulled outwardly by hand, these platforms easily sliding onsupports 18 until they reach their fully extended position as determinedby stop boards 13. Side wall panels 14 are erected to thus cause theroof panels 4 and 9 to take an outwardly protruding angular position, asshown on the left-hand side of FIG. 3, and finally the longitudinal wallpanels 5 are unfolded and erected to engage angle irons 29 and theunderside of roof 3. Then main roof 3 is slightly lowered to rest on thebody wall panels 5 and maintain all of the panels in erected position,the trailer being ready for occupancy. The reverse operation is effectedto collapse the camper trailer.

lclaim:

iv A collapsible camper trailer comprising a frame, groundengagingwheels supporting said frame, an open top box-like body secured to saidframe and comprising a floor and two pairs of substantially parallelwalls, a main roof for said box, means for raising and lowering saidmain roof and for maintaining the same in raised position, body wallpanels hinged to the walls of one of said two pairs of walls formovement between a folded position within said box and an upstandingerected position forming an extension of said walls of said pair ofwalls and under the raised main roof, and at least one extendible bodypart movable relative to said body between a retracted position withinsaid body and an advanced position protruding from said main roof andfrom one wall of said other pair of walls, said extendible body partcomprising a platform supported by said body for movement in a planegenerally parallel to said floor and having an external end, a roof forsaid extendible body part comprising first and second rigid roof panelshinged to each other about a first pivot axis, said first roof panelhinged to the external end of said platform about a second pivot axis,said second roof panel having its free ends supported by said main rooffor rotation with respect to the latter about a third pivot axis and formovement in a plane generally parallel to the plane of said main roofand in the direction of movement of said extendible body part and sidewall panels hinged to the sides of said platform to take an erectedposition, said first and second roof panels, said first, second andthird pivot axes being generally parallel to one another.

2. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 1, wherein guide rails aresecured to the underside of the said main roof trolley, wheels engagesaid guide rails and supports for said trolley wheels are secured tosaid second panel, said third pivot axes being the axes of rotation ofsaid trolley wheels.

3. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 2, wherein each said supportcomprises two parts adjustably secured to each other to adjust thedistance between said main roof and said second roof panel.

4. A camper trailer as claimed in claim I, wherein said body wallpanels, when in folded position, are at a lower level than the level ofsaid platform, whereby the latter, when in retracted position, isdisposed over said folded body wall panels.

5. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means forraising said main roof comprise rigid roof raising bars locatedexteriorly of said body and pivoted to said main roof at one end, guiderails secured to said frame and in a plane generally parallel to that ofsaid floor, the other ends of said main roof raising bars being guidedin said guide rails for movement in a plane generally parallel to thatof said floorv 6. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 5, furtherincluding telescopic posts having one section secured to said body andthe other section secured to said main roof and serving to stabilizesaid main roof. I

7. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 6, wherein said mam roof raisingbars are disposed in pairs, each pair arranged on one side of said box,the main roof elevating bars of each pair converging in the direction oftheir guide rail engaging ends, and further including amanually-operable cable and pulley system for moving said guide railengaging ends away from each other and thus raise said main roof.

8. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side wall panelsof said extendible body part make an overlap joint with the body wallpanels when said side wall panels and said body wall panels are inerected position.

9. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 1, further including removablebraces for bracing said platform in advanced position and removablysecured to said platform and said body.

10. A camper trailer as claimed in claim I, wherein said body is ofgenerally rectangular shape when seen in plan view, whereby one pair ofbody walls are longitudinally extending, whereas the other pair of saidbody walls are transversely extending with respect to the body, saidbody wall panels being hinged to said longitudinal body walls and saidcamper trailer comprising two extendible body parts protruding in theiradvanced position from the respective transverse body walls.

I]. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the foldedposition of said body wall panels and in the lowered position of saidmain roof, said platform is entirely within said body and over said bodywall panels, the side wall panels of said extendible body part beingfolded over said platform in horizontal position and said first andsecond roof panels overlying said side wall panels, and said main roofcovering all of said panels and said platform and directly resting onthe sides of said body.

i t 1 i na-m

1. A collapsible camper trailer comprising a frame, groundengagingwheels supporting said frame, an open top box-like body secured to saidframe and comprising a floor and two pairs of substantially parallelwalls, a main roof for said box, means for raising and lowering saidmain roof and for maintaining the same in raised position, body wallpanels hinged to the walls of one of said two pairs of walls formovement between a folded position within said box and an upstandingerected position forming an extension of said walls of said pair ofwalls and under the raised main roof, and at least one extendible bodypart movable relative to said body between a retracted position withinsaid body and an advanced position protruding from said main roof andfrom one wall of said other pair of walls, said extendible body partcomprising a platform supported by said body for movement in a planegenerally parallel to said floor and having an external end, a roof forsaid extendible body part comprising first and second rigid roof panelshinged to each other about a first pivot axis, said first roof panelhinged to the external end of said platform about a second pivot axis,said second roof panel having its free ends supported by said main rooffor rotation with respect to the latter about a thirD pivot axis and formovement in a plane generally parallel to the plane of said main roofand in the direction of movement of said extendible body part and sidewall panels hinged to the sides of said platform to take an erectedposition, said first and second roof panels, said first, second andthird pivot axes being generally parallel to one another.
 2. A campertrailer as claimed in claim 1, wherein guide rails are secured to theunderside of the said main roof trolley, wheels engage said guide railsand supports for said trolley wheels are secured to said second panel,said third pivot axes being the axes of rotation of said trolley wheels.3. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 2, wherein each said supportcomprises two parts adjustably secured to each other to adjust thedistance between said main roof and said second roof panel.
 4. A campertrailer as claimed in claim 1, wherein said body wall panels, when infolded position, are at a lower level than the level of said platform,whereby the latter, when in retracted position, is disposed over saidfolded body wall panels.
 5. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 1,wherein said means for raising said main roof comprise rigid roofraising bars located exteriorly of said body and pivoted to said mainroof at one end, guide rails secured to said frame and in a planegenerally parallel to that of said floor, the other ends of said mainroof raising bars being guided in said guide rails for movement in aplane generally parallel to that of said floor.
 6. A camper trailer asclaimed in claim 5, further including telescopic posts having onesection secured to said body and the other section secured to said mainroof and serving to stabilize said main roof.
 7. A camper trailer asclaimed in claim 6, wherein said main roof raising bars are disposed inpairs, each pair arranged on one side of said box, the main roofelevating bars of each pair converging in the direction of their guiderail engaging ends, and further including a manually-operable cable andpulley system for moving said guide rail engaging ends away from eachother and thus raise said main roof.
 8. A camper trailer as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the side wall panels of said extendible body part makean overlap joint with the body wall panels when said side wall panelsand said body wall panels are in erected position.
 9. A camper traileras claimed in claim 1, further including removable braces for bracingsaid platform in advanced position and removably secured to saidplatform and said body.
 10. A camper trailer as claimed in claim 1,wherein said body is of generally rectangular shape when seen in planview, whereby one pair of body walls are longitudinally extending,whereas the other pair of said body walls are transversely extendingwith respect to the body, said body wall panels being hinged to saidlongitudinal body walls and said camper trailer comprising twoextendible body parts protruding in their advanced position from therespective transverse body walls.
 11. A camper trailer as claimed inclaim 1, wherein in the folded position of said body wall panels and inthe lowered position of said main roof, said platform is entirely withinsaid body and over said body wall panels, the side wall panels of saidextendible body part being folded over said platform in horizontalposition and said first and second roof panels overlying said side wallpanels, and said main roof covering all of said panels and said platformand directly resting on the sides of said body.